Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions

"Barghouti is the future. He is intelligent, empowered, and non-violent. He is completely impressive. It would help Americans to see such a picture of Palestinian political engagement, when they have such a distorted image of who Palestinians are. Some day they will know him."-Phillip Weiss, author of Mondoweiss: The War of Ideas in the Middle East

THIRTY YEARS ago, an international movement utilizing boycott, divestment, and sanction (BDS) tactics rose in solidarity with those suffering under the brutal apartheid regime of South Africa. The historic acts of BDS activists from around the world isolated South Africa as a pariah state and heralded the end of apartheid.

Now, as awareness of the apartheid nature of the State of Israel continues to grow, Omar Barghouti, founding member of the Palestinian Civil Society Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) campaign against Israel, presents a renewed call to action. Aimed at forcing the State of Israel to uphold international law and universal human rights for the Palestinian people, here is a manifesto for change.

"No one has done more to build the intellectual, legal and moral case for BDS than Omar Barghouti. The global Palestinian solidarity movement has been transformed and is on the cusp of major new breakthroughs.?
-Naomi Klein, author of The Shock Doctrine and No Logo

"I commend this excellent book by Omar Barghouti...BDS is a call to refuse to be silent in the face of military occupation of the Palestinian people by the Israeli regime, apartheid, and colonialism. BDS is a nonviolent way in which each of us and our governments can follow our conscience and rightful moral and legal responsibility and act now to save Palestinian lives by demanding that the Israeli apartheid regime give justice and equality to all."
-Mairead Maguire, Nobel Peace Laureate (1976)

Auteur

Omar Barghouti is an independent Palestinian commentator and human rights activist. He is a founding member of the Palestinian Campaign for the Academic and Cultural Boycott of Israel (PACBI) and the Palestinian Civil Society Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) campaign against Israel. He holds a bachelor's and master's degrees in electrical engineering from Columbia University, NY, and a master's degree in philosophy (ethics) from Tel Aviv University.

Contenu

Introduction: BDS: What? Why? Why Now?
1--Israeli Apartheid: Time for the South African Treatment
2--Israel vs. South Africa: Reflecting on the Cultural Boycott
3--On the Moral Responsibility of Scholars in Situations of Oppression
4--Just Intellectuals? Oppression, Resistance, and the Public Role of Intellectuals
5--Freedom vs. "Academic Freedom": The AUT Boycott
6--Israel: So You Think You Can Dance?
7--Fighting Apartheid in South Africa, Celebrating Apartheid in Israel: Open letter to Nadine Gordimer
8--Between South Africa and Israel: UNESCO's Double-Standards
9--What we really need! A response to anti-boycott arguments
10--Derailing Injustice: Palestinian Civil Resistance to the "Jerusalem Light Rail"
11--"Boycotts work": An interview with Omar Barghouti by Ali Mustafa
12--Never Against! European Collusion in Israel's Slow Genocide
13--Boycotting Israeli settlement products: tactic vs. strategy
14--Our South Africa Moment has Arrived
Conclusion--BDS: If not now, when?